[e-mail]

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PUBLIC RELATIONS AND INFORMATION
OFFICE Rome, April 12th 2011

• daniela.vingiani_at_uniroma1.it

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PUBLIC RELATIONS FIELDS OF ACTIVITY

• PR is in general a profession with varying
  definitions because of its many functions and
  perceptions.
• Main functions can usually include
• COMMUNICATION
• COMMUNITY RELATIONS
• CRISIS MANAGEMENT
• CUSTOMER AND EMPLOYEE RELATIONS
• MEDIA RELATIONS
• MEDIATION
• PUBLICITY
• SPEECH WRITING
• VISITOR RELATIONS
• Very often these activities are not carried out
  by a single office, but by a series
• of different offices strongly linked to each
  other (we use to call them transversal
  activities).

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POSSIBLE DEFINITIONS

• A FUNCTION THAT SERVES BOTH THE ORGANIZATION
  AND PUBLIC INTERESTS
• THE PRACTICE OF MANAGING COMMUNICATION BETWEEN
• AN ORGANIZATION AND ITS PUBLICS
• The peculiar aspect of PR function is that the
  services provided are
• not tangible and that is what sets it apart from
  advertising. The aim
• is to serve and support the organizations
  publics (or stakeholders)
• and to build stable and fruitful relations with
  specific audiences or general public.

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PR OFFICERS SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• PR Officers must know how to
• speak clearly
• write clearly
• listen actively
• think critically
• These skills are necessary because in the field
  of public relations there is a constant
  communication undergoing between professionals
  and their publics. And PR officers are very often
  required to come up with solutions to problems
  their audience may face.

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ORGANIZATION CHART

• PUBLIC RELATIONS AND INFORMATION OFFICE
  COLLOCATION IN SAPIENZA UNIVERSITY

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PUBLIC RELATIONS AND INFORMATION OFFICE EVERY
DAY ACTIVITIES

• The Public Relations and Information Office is a
  qualified centre of assistance and guidance,
  specialized in finding out the appropriate
  solutions for every single case and to manage the
  reports concerning difficulties and problems.
• In particular, the Office provides information
  regarding the University organization, the
  reference regulation, the persons in charge and
  the status of the administrative proceedings.The
  services offered are addressed to all kind of
  University users, both internal (personnel,
  students, etc.), and external (other
  administrative bodies, firms, etc).
• The Public Relations and Information Office
  favours the development
• and integration of internal communication among
  administrative
• offices and proposes periodical verification of
  the quality of the services offered. The Office
  is also deeply committed in reinforcing the
  information dissemination through modern
  communication channels preferring
• e-mail and on line services.

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USERS PERCENTAGE
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CHANNELS

• Information is provided through different
  channels
• Face - to - face interaction
• Telephone
• E-mail
• Website
• The creation of a chat space is in progress
  and should be implemented in a near future. The
  chat should make the interaction easier and
  friendlier, in a more informal environment.

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KNOWLEDGE SHARING

• Both front office and back office activities are
  carried out in a collaborative environment with
  the application of common knowledge management
  tools.
• In particular
• Shared data bases and folders
• Web mail
• Electronic Document Management System
• Wikis

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INTERNAL COMMUNICATION

• For more than ten years our office has been
  working very hard on developing and maintaining a
  network of relations that can allow effective
  communication to take place within the
  organization.
• The network consists of formal and informal
  channels, which are both equally important.
• Formal channels allow to obtain certified
  information (necessary to guarantee consistency
  between internal and external communication)
• Informal channels allow to maintain stable
  relationships with referents of different offices
  and departments (managers, technical and
  administrative staff, professors, etc.)

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SAPIENZA UNIVERSITY VALUES AND POLICY

• Sapienza University is strongly committed to
  transparency and accountability towards its many
  stakeholders.
• For this reason our aim is to try and reach all
  our audiences and to establish constructive
  relations with them, through a series of
  particular activities and special projects.
• Those activities and projects are also intended
  as a way of constructing a real communication
  community, to spread the seed of communication as
  an asset, an added value. To stimulate a real
  changing process of attitudes and habits.
• Keywords of this process are essentially
• INVOLVEMENT
• SHARING
• COLLABORATION
• AWARENESS
• TRAINING
• FEEDBACK

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PARTICULAR ACTIVITIES

• EXHIBITIONS
• The Public Relations and Information Office
  organizes and manages the participation of the
  University in the main Italian exhibitions (in
  particular the Public Administration Forum
  FORUM PA and the Communication of Public
  Administration Exhibition COM.PA) in
  cooperation with other offices (mainly the Press
  Office)
• WEBSITE EDITORIAL BOARD
• The Public Relations and Information Office is
  represented in the Website Editorial Board, which
  is devoted to the improvement of the
  institutional website (both Italian and English
  versions)
• INTERNAL TRAINING
• The PRI Office also cooperates with the Staff
  Training Office in the implementation of training
  programs in particular subjects, such as public
  and institutional communication interpersonal
  communication communication planning and so on.

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SPECIAL PROJECTS

• The following is a list of special projects
  handled by our Public Relations and Information
  Office
• URPINSIEME Integrated communication project
  among PR
• offices of different universities and other
  public bodies
• LINEA AMICA The new Governmental project
  which includes a unified call center of the
  Public Administration with the aim to provide
  information and assistance and to conduct
  customer satisfaction surveys
• The Communication Plan A strategic document
  that defines the annual communication goals and
  the means to achieve them
• Reengineering of the Institutional web site

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URPINSIEME PROJECT

• Within this project we carried out a series of
  activities and studies. In particular
• The establishment of a stable network of
  relations among PR Officers of different
  Universities and other Public Bodies
• The creation of a co-managed website
  www.urpinsieme.it in which we share useful
  integrated information addressed to all kinds of
  audience, specifically involving procedures and
  services offered by each organization
• The implementation of a Focus dedicated to
  researches and courses carried out in the
  interesting and popular field of environment
• The organization of meetings and workshops
  related to different aspects of Communication
• The production of articles and information
  materials about the project.

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CONCLUSIONS

• PR and COMMUNICATION functions are a real
  challenge in a wide and complex organization.
• The larger is the context the more complex is
  the task.
• Sapienza University is the largest university in
  Europe, with 145.000 students, over 4.500
  professors and almost 5.000 administrative and
  technical staff.
• So you can easily imagine that our job is not
  easy. But it is surely very interesting and
  exiting.

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CONTACT DETAILS

• For any questions, input and suggestions
• DANIELA VINGIANI
• Head of Public Relations and Information Office
• Sapienza University of Rome
• daniela.vingiani_at_uniroma1.it